"Gentlemen, well played," Nahum addressed the team. "As we've already understood, today's opponents are on the tougher side. If my calculations are correct, and they're always correct, then Stratus is the region's third-strongest team."
"Yeah, it sure feels that way," Jake said. "They've got that momentum going."
"Indeed." Nahum nodded. "As such, we shouldn't feel too bad about losing to them. After all, losing to the third-best team is inevitable; that's just math. They would no longer be the third strongest if we could beat them, right? It's elementary."
"Yeah, totally. That's what you call QED."
"Yep, none of this is our fault. It's all math."
Everybody agreed with that. After all, it was a logical conclusion.
However, there was one girl who stood out from this lot. Not only because she was the only girl in the room, but also because she thought these guys were full of shit.
Marim quietly listened to all that nonsense from the side while playing a shoot 'em up on her phone. She was waiting for somebody from the club to say something to these imbeciles, but apparently, everybody just accepted what happened as something that couldn't be helped.
So, Marim put her phone away and finally stepped in. "Are you guys dumb or something?"
"Excuse me?" Nahum raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I heard you correctly. It sort of sounded like an insult."
"Yes, because it was." Marim nodded. "You're all stupid. Dumdums. Oafs. Do you want me to look up any other synonyms?"
"... no, I'm fairly sure we understood what you're trying to say." Nahum's smile twitched. "I just don't think we deserve all this verbal abuse."
"Nah, you totally because you're acting like a bunch of losers," Marim said. "What are you blaming your defeat on math for? Sports aren't just math. If the statistically 'weaker team' always gave up without even trying, the whole concept of competition wouldn't even exist."
"Hrm. We gave it our best shot, of course," Nahum reassured. "It's just that the result is in line with what we expected."
Marim made a face. "Really? You gave it your 'best shot'? With that attitude? Pft, no chance. It sounds like you accepted defeat before the battle even started. You're just a bunch of quitters."
"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is how you should be talking to your seniors."
"Oh, you're gonna pull out the seniority card? How scawy~" Marim rolled her eyes. "Be real, you're not even a year older than me. What rights does that even give you? Besides, years are an arbitrary measure anyway. Like, wow, the Earth finished one more rotation around the sun. As if that means anything."
"It means I've lived longer than you," Nahum argued. "Therefore, I have more experience."
"No it doesn't," Marim countered. "I play more Mancers in my free time than any of you. So, mathematically, my experience outpaces yours."
"Hrm. I suppose there's substance to that hypothesis...." Nahum had no choice but to fold to that argument. After all, the math checked out.
"So yeah," Marim continued. "I know I'm being blunt and all, but your performance was dogshit. I understand you wanna run away from reality and pretend like everything is fine, but please, stop with this disgraceful stuff. Think about the impression you're giving the rest of the club. They're gonna think their first-string is a bunch of losers."
"That's…" Nahum frowned and looked around him. Everybody was equally appalled by the girl's bold words. Just a moment ago, the atmosphere in the room was nice and cozy. Now, it felt like the temperature dropped below absolute zero.
"If we keep playing Mancers without a backbone like you guys, this club will never escape mediocrity," Marim ranted. "Listen, you dumbos aren't losing just because of skill issue. Sure, that's a big part of it, but it ain't all. Your brains are also rotting from all these excuses you're making. Like, are you even trying? Seriously?"
"........" The first-string members lowered their heads, unsure how to retort. They were the intellectual types who could argue against anything with facts and logic, yet somehow, this one rowdy girl stumped them.
Why were they listening to all this verbal abuse, again? They could've easily shut up this eccentric girl and gone about their business as usual. And yet, none of them stepped forward to do so.
For one, Marim was a girl, a rare unicorn for this club. The boy-to-girl ratio was sad in general in their science-oriented school, and on top of that, not many girls were into competitive video games there. So, Marim was truly one of a kind.
And, to further distinguish her from the rest, there was also her attitude. And oh boy, what an attitude it was. She was like a delinquent! Normally, Nahum wouldn't even bother associating himself with such uneducated oafs!
And yet, despite her rough personality, Marim was legit. Contrary to how she carried herself, her academic achievements were quite high. The fact that she got into the Classmancers club was a testament to that.
The school was strict with who it let into this "video game club". It demanded an excellent academic score from all applicants, and Marim passed the requirements without a hitch.
But did any of this give her the right to criticize Nahum's team? Nay! She had none! And, it was time to put this brat in her place...